Method of and machine for forming end caps for coil packages



G. E. MIRFIELD Aug. 27, 1940.

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR FORMING END CAPS FOR COIL PACKAGES 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 18, 1958 N .www

A118- 27, 19.40- G. E. MlRr-u-:LD 2,212,669

METHOD OF ND MACHINE FOR FORMING END CAPS FORvCOIL PACKAGES Filed May 18, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet y2 /NVENTO/ W, www

.HTTONEY Allg 27, 1940- G. E. MIREN-:LD 2,212,569

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR FORMING END CAPS FOR COIL PACKAGES Filed May 18, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 E E6 E? 75 Patented ug. 27, 1940 PATENT oFEicE METHOD OF ANDl MACHINE FOR FORMING e END CAPS FOR COIL PACKAGES George E. MirfielrhYoungstown, Ohio,fassgnor to The Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company,

`Yonngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Appliation May 1s, 193s, serial No. 208,555v

18 Claims.

This invention relates to the formation from a flat strip of fibrous material of individual pieces of annular conformation and substantially U- shaped cross-section particularly intended for use in packaging hollow cylindrical articles in the manner disclosed in my copending application for U. S. Letters Patent entitled Shipping package for hollow cylindrical articles, Serial No. 206,356,'1ed May 6, 1938,

i 4As 'explained therein the packaging of hollow cylindrical articles, such `as coils of metal strip or theylike, to protect them from moisture and corrosion has heretofore embodied certain diiculties which are overcome by the use of the invention thereof. The package produced thereby includes end caps ofannular conformation and stantially U-shaped cross-section andrcurvilinear form to facilitate the production of these annular endcaps and generally similar articles.

A further object is to provide a machine ine cluding forming mechanism andlmeans for continuously feeding aA strip of eXpansible fibrous material, such as paper,` thereto while progressively scoring and stretching parts o f the moving strip to facilitatethe forming operation so that when the formed strip attains a suitable length it invention will hereinafter more fully appear or' Will be understood from the following descriptionof a machine constructed in accordance therewith, adapted for the performance of the e method contemplated thereby and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine with aJ strip of the fibrous material passing through it; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine viewed from the right in Fig. 1 with certain parts broken away to vmoreclea'rly illustrate'lits construction;

p the machine.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section on they line l 6 6 in Figg. i E

In the several figures like'charactersar'e used to` designate the same parts and the "relative thickness ofthe strip of fibrous material is'exagf gerated for clearness of illustration; l

Referring now more particularly tothe drawings, the machine embodies a frame `l which supports its several operating parts and may comprise a heavy upstanding plate adjacent the lower edge of which is a bracket 2 carryinga spindle .'-2

adapted to receivearoll P of the brous material which is to be'formed bythe machine, `eX- pansible or creped kraft` paper usually being suitable for the purpose. Bracket 2 also supports an idle rollerll over which vfthe stripof paper drawn from the roll passes in its travel through u The papermoves upwardly from the roller 4 along a substantially' vertical path adjacent a heater 5 including edge guidesv 6 and comprising a heating unit (not shown) preferably electrically energized, so as to progressively warm the paper as it passes-over the unit and thereby soften the waterproofing compound 'with which it is impregnated, this compound'usually being a thermoplastic material of an asphaltic nature. Above the heating unit are positioned a pair of rollers which draw the paper from the roll and prepare it for subsequent forming. These roll'- ers, generally designated R; R" arey ysupported from brackets Hl and l l which are carried bythe frame and secured thereto through the medium of angles I2 Vand I3` bo'ltedto the frame and to the brackets respectively,"'the frame being apertured in the vicinity' of the rollers and brackets to provide clearance Yfor these and other parts. Roller R is supported from brackets llljll on a shaft I4 which yalso carries a spur gear l5 meshing with a similar gear IE secured to asleeve Il carryingrollerR and in turn supported by a shaft i8 carried in brackets ll), ll. The portions of this shaft which extend through the `brackets are eccentric with respectto its intermediate portion on which sleeve l'l is located and at one end beyond the adjacentbracket a hand lever I9 is secured to the shaft so that -by means of the lever the shaft can be moved' generally toward or away from roller R to vary the clearance between the rollers R, R. Bracket I I where it supports shaft I8 is split and supplied with a screw 2U whereby it may be constricted against the shaftv to lock the latter in its rotatively adjusted position.

Roller R comprises a cylindrical surface 25 and a frusto-conical surface 26 adjacent thereto provided with axially spaced projecting ribs 2'I complementary to corresponding grooves 28 in a somewhatsimilar frusto-conical portion ,of roller R' hereinafter more fully described, roller R also having a cylindrical surface 29 aligned with the cylindrical surface 25 of roller R. 'Ihe frusto-conical portion of roller R is built up of several parts including a number of rings 30 the outer surfaces of which are generally frusto-conical and of progressively larger eX- Vternal diameter in a direction receding from cylindrical surface 29 so that the rings when assembled together substantially conform to the frusto-conical surface 25 of roller R, the edges of the rings being beveled off to form grooves 28.

These rings, which are of equal internal diameter,Y

are rotatably mounted ona sleeve-3l held in place by a collar 32 secured on sleeve I1 with the result that the rings can rotate on sleeve 3l independently of each other and independently of cylindricalportion 29 of roller R. v

Shaft I4 carrying roller R and, through gears I5, I6, the cylindrical portion 29 of roller R are driven by bevel gears 33, 34 respectively mounted on shaft I4 and a shaft 35 journaled in a bracket 36 secured on the frame; the latter shaft is driven from ar suitably positioned motor 31 through worm gearing 38, 39 and in addition to driving gear 33 the shaft also carries and drives a sprocket 40 the purpose of which will hereinafter more Adjacent the upper part of frame I is a forming die 45 secured by bolts 46 to the face of the frame and, as most clearly shown in Fig. 6, this die is provided with a substantially U-shaped slot 4l which imparts to the strip a corresponding U-shaped cross-section after its passage between rollers R, R.

On the opposite side of the die from these rollers are arranged arcuate guides 50, 5I which are curved on different radii from the same center to provide a substantially semi-circular path extending along the face of frame I from die 4,5, the outer guide 5I being desirably interrupted a short distance beyond the die to afford space for a pair of feeding rollers 52, 53. lis rotatable on a shaft 54 in turn eccentrically journaled in the frame and in a bracket 55'l with sprocket 40 to thereby drive shaft 58l andy roller 53 secured thereto, and shaft 54 carries a spur gear adapted to mesh with a like gear 5I attached to the end of roller 53 for rotation with shaft 58 so that the two rollers are driven at the same speed when the gears are in mesh.

Operation,

This machine is desirably used in a manner now to be described for continuous formation of coil package end caps and is adapted to operate Upper roller 52 imparts the U-shape of its pass to the strip. The

end of the shaped strip is then led between guides 5D, 5I withvone side of the U extending between rollers 52, 53 which assist in feeding it along the guides.

' During these operations rollers R, R and 52, 53

are preferably separated by manipulation of hand levers I 9, 59' as far as possible to facilitate threading the end of the strip between them, and rollers R, R are then so adjusted that their cooperative cylindrical surfaces 25, 29 grip the paper fairly tightly with the result that when they are rotated in opposite directions by the driving mechanism energized by motor 31 they draw the strip of paper upwardly from roller 4 and the ribs 2l on roller R then cooperate with grooves 28 on roller RA to produce a plurality of score lines s in the paper as it passes between them, after having been softened by heat from heater 5 during its passage to the rollers. As has been explained, roller R is of solid construction while the conical portion in roller R is made up of a plurality of relatively movable rings which are not positively driven although the cylindrical portion 29 o f this rolleris so driven; the speed of that part of the stripl passing between the cylindrical surfaces of the rollers therefore corresponds substantially to their peripheral speed but the adjacent part of the strip passing between the frusto-conical surfaces is driven at progressively slower speeds corresponding to the progressively slower peripheral speed of the frusto-conical surface of roller R as its diameter decreases, the rings of roller R operating at differential speeds inversely proportional to their diameters, due to the larger rings being in engagement with `those parts of the strip which are driven by the smaller diameter portions of roller R. Thus the several Y parts of the strip move at varying speeds in accordance with the part of roller R which they contact and as the part driven from the cylindrical surfaces of the rollers moves at the highest speed, it is severely stretched relatively to the other parts, that driven by the conical surface is also stretched but to a progressively lesser degree, depending on thev differential speeds at which it is driven, and the edge part not contactedby either roller R or R remains substantially in its original. unstretched condition.

Thus as the strip moves from rollers R, R toward the forming die its most severely stretched part is of greater length than the remainder of the strip and can readily be folded normal to the scored part of the latter on the outside of a curve while the wholly unstretched part is of less length than the scored part and can be similarly folded on the inside of a curve on the same center but of smaller radiusy the edge scorelines s insuring regularity` of these lines of fold.

After enough of the strip has been drawn through the forming die by rollers 52, 53 and by them then fed between the guides 5I), 5I to complete an end cap of the desired diameter the strip is severed, preferably on the delivery side of the rollers to' avoid the necessity of rethreading its leading end therethrough, usually a sufcient amount of the strip being allowed for each end cap to permit the ends of theannulus forming it to overlap slightly to facilitate,l its subsequent use in packaging coilsv as described in my said copending application.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the operations performed on my` machine as herein described are characterized principally by a rather severe stretching of `a part of the strip adjacent one edge while a part preferably of generally corresponding width adjacent the other edge remains unstretchedand the intermediate part is differentially stretched substantially to the extent required to enable it to assume annular shape without other material deformation after it has passed thestretching rollers. Moreover, I have found that the formed strip does not appreciably tend to'departv from the shape imparted to it during its passage through the machine due largely to the fact that before it is stretched 'the waterproofing composition `with which it is impregnated hasbeen softened as the strip moves past the heaterv and remains more or less in that condition until the strip leaves the forming die so that as the strip subsequently cools the hardening of the composition assists in thereafter maintaining it in the shape to which it has been brought.

It will be appreciated that the end caps which the machine is designed especially to produce are applied over the ends of a hollow cylindrical coil of sheet metal or the like and that in practice these coils are usuallyformed on mandrels of predetermined diameter, for example 22, but

in accordance with the gage of the metal and the number of linearfeet in the coil the thickness,

that is, the difference between the lengths of the inner and the outerradii of the coils mayvary. Thus, for example; if the thickness of a given coil is 2", the distance between the inner and the outer 'walls of an end cap designed for application thereto should .beY approximately 2" whereas if the thickness of the coil is 4", the distance between the inner and outer walls of the cap should-likewise,approximate 4", As this distance is primarilydetermined inthe formation of the caps by the spacing between the scores on 'which the strip'iis folded in `the die, it will be apparent that caps Vsuitable for different thicknesses of coilsmay-be formed on the machine by using strip stock of different widths and differentsizes of dies adapted to 4fold it on any `two selected scores. In the drawings the machine-is shown as set up toform a cap 'for a coil of maximumthickness as the die is arranged to fold the strip on the outermost of the scoresv formed by l rollers R, R'l but its adaptability for 4forming caps for coilsof lesser thickness will-be readily understood in the light of what has just been said. l `I have herein referred more particularly to the use ofthe machine for making end caps for use in packaging coils of sheet or strip metal .but it is of equal utility `for forming generally similar annular pieces of fibrous material of substantially U-shaped cross-section designed for other uses, and -as the servicesv of an attendant are required only for cutting the strip to suitable length from time to time as it isv progressively formed, the machine `can be operated very economically and the end caps produced at a cost but little in excess ofthat'of the strip stock.

While I have herein described my linvention with considerable'particularty, it will `be understood that I do not-desire or intend to limit or confine myself thereby in any way, as vchanges and modications in the form, structure' and arrangement of the several parts of the machine as well as in the several steps of the method contemplated by the invention will readily occur to those skilled in the art and may be made if desired without departing `from the spirit and scope of the latter as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1;,A machine of the character described comprising means for progressively moving an expansible strip of fibrous material and simultaneously stretching an edge part thereof to elongate saidpart relatively to the remainder of the strip and means for forming the stretched strip to substantiallyU-shaped cross section.

2. A machine of the character described comprising means for progressively longitudinally stretching an edge part of a moving strip of sheet material, means for concurrently differentially stretching another part of the strip and means for then forming'the strip to substantially U- shaped cross section and imparting generally annular configuration thereto.

3. A machine of the character described comprising means for progressively warming a moving strip of expansible sheet material, means for progressively longitudinally stretching a part of the warmed strip adjacent one edge thereof while maintaining the part adjacent the opposite edge relatively unstretched, and meansfor then progressively forming the strip to substantially U-shaped cross section.

4. A machine of the character described comprising means for progressively warming a moving strip of expansible sheet material, means for progressively stretching a part of the warmed strip adjacent one edge `thereof while maintaining the part adjacent the opposite edge relatively unstretched, and means for progressively differentially stretching the intermediate partlof the strip between said edge parts, the extent of said differential stretching varying in substantial proportion to the distance from said una conical surface progressively receding from adjacentone end thereof, asecond roller having cylindrical and conical surfaces respectively `cooperative with those on the first roller, means for driving said rollers in engagement with an elon-v gated strip to thereby `progressively and differentially stretch different parts of the strip, and means 4adapted to then form the strip to substantially U-shaped cross section.

7. In av machine ofthe character described comprising a roller having a cylindrical surface and alconical surface progressively receding `from adjacent one end thereof, a second roller having a cylindrical surface` cooperative with the F'cylindrical surface of the first roller and a series of relatively rotatable frusto-conical `rings cooperative with the conical surface of the rst roller and means supporting the rollers for rotation in engagement with a strip of sheet material.

8. In a machine of the character described comprising a roller having a cylindrical surface and a conical surface progressively receding from adjacent one end thereof Vand a plurality of axially spaced circumferential ribs projecting from said latter surface, a second roller having a cylindrical surface cooperative with the cylindrical surface of the first roller and a plurality of relatively 'rotatable frusta-conical rings cooperative lwith the conical surface of the first roller, the edges of adjacent rings being beveled to form grooves adapted to receive the circumferential ribs of the first roller .and means supporting the rollers for rotation in engagement with a strip of sheet material.

9. In a machineof the character described comprising a roller having a cylindrical surface and a conical surface progressively receding from adjacent one end thereof, a second roller having a cylindrical surface cooperative with the cylindrical surface of the rst roller and a series cf relatively rotatable frusto-conical rings cooperative with the conical surface of the first roller, means supporting the rollers for rotation in engagement with a strip of sheet material and means for driving the rollers to thereby feed the strip between them and stretch an edge portion thereof during its passage between theirr cylindrical surfaces and differentially stretch the adjacent portion between their conical surfaces.

l0. A machine of the character described comprising a roller having a cylindrical surface and a conical surface progressively receding from adjacent one end thereof, a second roller having a cylindrical surface cooperative with the cylindrical surfaceof the first roller and a series of relatively rotatable frusto-conical rings cooperative with the conical surface of the i'lrst roller, means supporting the rollers for rotation in engagement with a strip of sheet material, means for driving the rollers to thereby feed the strip between them and stretch an edge portion thereof during its passage between their cylindrical sur-.

faces and' differentially stretch the adjacent portion between their conical surfaces andy means disposed adjacent the rollers adapted to progressively form the strip after its passage'between them into an annulus of substantially U-shaped cross section. k

ll. A machine of the character described comprising a roller having a cylindrical surface and a conical surface progressively receding from adjacent one end thereof, a second roller having a cylindrical surface cooperative with the cylindrical surface of the first roller and a series of relatively rotatable frusto-conical rings cooperative with the conical surface of the first roller, means supporting the rollers for rotation in engagement with a strip of sheet material, means for driving the rollers to thereby feed the strip between them and stretch an edge portion thereof during its passage between their cylindrical surfaces and differentially stretch the adjacent portion between their conical surfaces, rneansodisposed adjacent the `rollers adapted to progressively ,form` the strip after its passage between them into an annulus o-f substantially U-shaped cross section and guiding means providing an arcuatepath to receive the formed strip.

4of said rollers having a cylindrical surface and a frusto-conical surface rigid therewith .and the second roller having a cylindrical surface aligned i with the cylindrical surface of the first roller, means coaxial with the second roller and rotatable relatively thereto providing a plurality of relatively movable frusto-conical surfaces respectively substantially aligned with portions of the conical surface of the rst roller and means for rotating the rollers in engagement respectively with opposite faces of a moving strip of sheet material.

13. In a machine of the character described Va pair of rollers rotatable on parallel axes, one of said rollers having a cylindrical surface and a frusto-conical surface rigid therewith and the second roller having a cylindrical surface aligned with the cylindrical surface of the rst roller, 5'

parallel shafts respectively supporting the rollers for rotation with their cylindrical surfaces in `engagement with opposite faces of a strip of sheet material, means supported from and rotatable about the shaft carrying the second roller providing a series of frusto-conical surfaces cooperative with the frusto-conical surface of the first roller to engage other portions of the sheet, driving means for the rollers and means adapted to receive the moving strip after its passage between the rollers and progressively form it to substantially U-shaped cross section.

14. In a method of forming end caps for hollow cylindrical packages, .the steps of progressively moving an elongated strip of expansible sheet' material and concurrently relatively severely stretching one edge part of the strip longitudinally while maintaining the opposite edge'relatively unstretched and then progressively forming the strip to substantially U-shaped cross section.

155A method of treating an elongated strip of expansible sheet material which comprises the steps of progressively warmingthe strip, progressively longitudinally stretching a part of the warmed strip adjacent one'edge while maintaining a part adjacent the? opposite edge relatively unstretched and concurrently differentially stretching the strip `between said: stretched and unstretched parts, then forming the strip to sub stantially U-shaped cross section.

16. A method of treatingv an elongated strip o f expansible sheet material which comprises the steps of progressively warming the strip, progressively longitudinally Astretching a part of the warmed strip adjacent one edge while 'maintaining a part adjacent -the opposite edge relatively unstretched and concurrently differentially stretching and scoring the strip parallel with said edges between said stretched and unstretched parts, then forming the strip to substantially U- shaped cross section. v

17. In a method of forming end pieces for packages for hollow cylindrical articles the steps ofA rality of pieces ofsubstantially annular configuration.

18. In a method of forming endy pieces for packages for hollow cylindrical articles the steps of progressively longitudinally scoring a strip of expansible sheet material to segregate the strip into three ,defined Zones, stretching one zone adjacent an edge of the strip longitudinally substantially uniformly, stretching an adjacent zone of the strip transversely dierentially and progressively less in substantial proportion to the distance vfrom the score defining said `zone' from the adjacent stretched zone, progressively forming the partially stretched strip tov substantially U-shaped cross section Whileimparting arcuate configuration thereto and finally at spaced points longitudinally of the strip severing it transversely to produce successive substantially annular pieces of vtlcematerial of substantially U-shaped cross section.

GEORGE E. MIRF'IELD l 

